cLMU class of 2016 member Mackenzi Sherman earned a berth in the World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

LOS ANGELES - The future looks brighter and brighter for LMU women's rowing as class of 2016 member Mackenzi Sherman, who will begin competing for the Lions this fall, rowed her way to earning a berth in the World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, August 14-19.

Competing on July 9 at the 2012 World Junior Championship Trials on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., Sherman and her junior double crew partner Olivia MacLean won their second race of the day and earned a spot on the junior national team finishing in a time 7:52.400 over their selection camp teammates, Jillian McGill and Caroline Heiderscheit, who finished in a time of 8:10.710.

"I put a lot of effort into my season preparing for selection this year," said Sherman. "I knew I wasn't guaranteed a spot on the team and the 2x wasn't exactly what I had in mind, however it was what God had in mind.

"Trials went really well," Sherman continued. "We had only practiced for about a week and we raced really well together. Now we just have to perfect our execution so every practice has a purpose - one that includes a final and medals."

Sherman, who hails from Los Almitos, Calif., also rowed for the US Junior National Team last summer, earning fourth place in the women's 4x at both the 2011 USRowing Youth Nationals and the 2011 FISA World Junior Rowing Championships.

Sherman will not be the only competitor at the World Rowing Championships with ties to the Lions' program as men's assistant coach Bob Duff was named to the US Senior Team in the men's lightweight 4x.